Gensokyo Railway Series 9 (Hiroto the Express Engine)
by Pergold
Summary: Hiroto is one of the bigger engines and pulls the express trains between the Human Village and the the two shrines at both ends of the mainline. These are some of his stories.
1. Prologue

"Are you sure we should let Yukari come back to these meetings?" asked Nitori.

"But she went through that thera...whatever its called." said the Scarlet Controller.

"I don't know, I still don't trust her."

"But she helped you bring in Ahiru."

"I know Remilia, but I don't want her to do anything dangerous. Besides, I want to know what the North Western Railway is like from Ran."

"What if you preoccupy Yukari with something irrelevant to your interests?" suggested the Scarlet Controller.

"I mean, I want to do something with Mayohiga." said Nitori, transitioning to another topic.

"Branch line or mainline?"

"I'd figure branch, unless more humans end up there."

Then Nitori got an idea.

"Maybe Yukari could start putting her gapped in humans there and that could be a little colony of sorts."

"But who would like a village of gappy stu's?" questioned the Scarlet Controller.

Nitori and the Scarlet Controller talked back and forth about possibly extending the railway to Mayohiga and what to do with Yukari coming back into company affairs. Mayohiga lay on the border of the Great Hakurei Barrier and was at the moment, abandoned with only a population of stray cats to keep it company. If they could somehow convince enough humans to move there, they could build a branch line and expand it into a mainline extension if traffic is increased enough.

Meanwhile, Ran was telling Yukari, who was recently given leave out of Eientei, stories about where she went.

"We'd see these two mechanical youkai pass by and Chen would imitate them." Ran then got Chen to imiate the two engines.

"'Member th' time you b'oke ya break van, Dougie!" Chen imitated.

Yukari was pleased, even though the thought of artificial youkai gave her the feeling that neither human or youkai should never play god. Yukari was happy that things were getting back to normal.


	2. Birdstrike

Hiroto is a JNR Class C51, he is the engine that pulls express trains to the two shrines at either end of the mainline. Because both shrines were Shinto, he was painted red with white lining to represent this. He sometimes would be boastful of his speed. Ahiru one day told Hiroto that even faster trains existed in the outside world.

"Pah! I'd beat those Shinkansen engines any day." Hiroto said,

"But you don't understand! They run on wider track than we do and they're powered by electricity." Ahiru explained.

"Electricity?! All proper engines are and should be steam powered."

Hiroto not one to be outdone, tried going as fast as he possibly could. His driver kept warning him that he might fall over on a bend if he's not careful enough. But one day, Hiroto was trying his best to beat yesterday's record when suddenly a birdlike youkai flew over the tracks, Hiroto used all his might to stop when his driver applied the brakes. But it was too late, he smacked the youkai over the top of his buffers, disconnecting his front break pipe. The youkai skidded several feet away. She got up on her feet, wobbled a bit and then fell back on the ground.

Hiroto's driver and firewoman got her up and into one of the coaches. She was transported to Eientei. Later that day, Ichihiro teased Hiroto about what had happened.

"I heard about what happened to that night sparrow you hit. Didn't like her song?" Ichihiro said.

"I didn't see Mystia Lorelei when she crossed the tracks. She should have been more careful." said Hiroto.

"She _should_ be careful if a big fat engine like you ever goes too fast."

"Don't be sarcastic with me, Ichihiro."

"Suit yourself." Ichihiro left to go pick up some coaches.

The other engines thought it was a hoot to make fun of Hiroto's birdstrike.

"Hiroto hit a night sparrow because her song didn't with agree with him!" chuckled Akemi.

"At least I don't have a girl's name." rebutted Hiroto.

Akemi stayed silent.

That night the engines talked about Mystia and how she was.

"I heard her sing when I went to Eientei. It confused some of the passengers and some of them bought another ticket because they forgot that they bought it the first time." said Ichihiro.

"Is she getting better?" said Shiro, in earnest.

"Yeah, she has a broken wing and some broken bones, but she'll get better."

Hiroto was very quiet that night and he didn't say anything.


	3. Hiroto and the Visitors

Many people, youkai and humans alike, come and visit the railway and go on the trains coming in and out of the stations. But there were two humans in particular. Both were shrine maidens, one thin, the other was quite large. The large miko takes pictures of the engines, whilst the thin miko writes stories about them.

Lately, the engine crews were discovering the stories one by one. This was getting to the engine's heads.

"Hey Hiroto! The Thin Shrine Maiden wrote about how I pulled your express because went on a loop." said Akemi.

"Did she also write about how you needed a bootlace." replied Hiroto.

Akemi was furious.

"Driver, did she write a book about me?" asked Hiroto.

"I'm afraid not." answered his driver.

Hiroto was jealous the entire day, she complained that some of the engines got entire installments about themselves, but not him. That until he came to pull the express when he saw two shrine maidens, one thin and the other wasn't.

The large miko asked to be in Hiroto's cab so she could take pictures out of his cab. The thin miko wrote some things down on a notepad. The driver said it was okay and the large miko climbed in with her camera. Hiroto thought that she was the one writing the books.

"Hiroto, be on your best behavior." said his driver.

Hiroto pulled out of the station, still grumbling to himself. He shot off some steam and showered a man on the platform. Hiroto pulled out of the station.

"Hey! Come back here! I need to see Reimu!" yelled the man on the platform.

Hiroto thundered down the line, he was more careful not to hit anyone crossing the line. By the time Hiroto got to the station, Reimu Hakurei was waiting at the station. The large miko climbed out of the cab and the thin miko left the coach. All the while, Reimu was waiting at the platform. Finally she lost patience.

"Where the hell is ZUN?!" said Reimu, furiously.

"Who is ZUN?" asked Hiroto.

"He's an important man. He makes games about us." replied Reimu.

"He was supposed to come here."

When Hiroto came back to the big station, the man was still there. He was cross at Hiroto.

"I had official business with Reimu-san, and you made me late!" the man said.

"Are you ZUN then?" asked Hiroto silently.

"Yes, I'm ZUN! Now will you please take me to the Hakurei shrine?"

ZUN boarded Hiroto's train and he made up for the man's lost time. He pumped his pistons as hard as he could. He made record time and was several minutes early. The passengers came out and saw the clock and cheered for Hiroto. ZUN was especially happy, now that he could finally have his meeting with Reimu.

"Mr. ZUN." said Hiroto.

"Do you make games about Reimu like how the Thin Shrine Maiden writes books about us?"

ZUN laughed.

"Yes Hiroto, you could say that." ZUN said, before walking off to the shrine.

Then a thin looking miko came up to Hiroto.

"I saw what you did and my friend took some good pictures in your cab." she said.

"Are you the Thin Shrine Maiden?" asked Hiroto.

"Yes I'm, and I'm writing a book about you."

Hiroto was pleased and boasted about it to the other engines.

"Maybe ZUN will make a game about you." joked Ahiru.

"Nonsense, I don't have a single spell card to use." said Hiroto.

"Thought you didn't like them?" replied Ahiru.

Hiroto was at a loss for words, and then laughed.

"Maybe your right." said Hiroto before getting his next train.


	4. Tenders and Turntables

Tank engines can pull trains facing forward or backward, this makes them useful if there's not loop or turntable nearby. But it isn't safe for tender engines to go backwards at fast speeds. As such they have to use turntables, there are two turntables that could handle the bigger engines, one by the sheds, the other in the yard by the station in the Human Village.

However that day, a tengu started playing tricks on the other engines, as Hiroto was going to use the turntable at the station. The tengu made the wind blow fiercely.

"Alright Hiroto, let's get you in the other direction." said his driver.

But the tengu's wind made Hiroto hard to stop, every time he backed up or move forward to adjust the turntable, he'd jam it.

"It's no use Hiroto. The wind is just too strong to set you properly."

"Ugh!" said Hiroto, he lost all his patience.

Hiroto coupled to his next train, engine first, and some fairies were making fun of him.

"Oh look Sunny, there's Hiroto playing tank engine." said Cirno, an ice fairy.

Ichihiro was by the platform next to Hiroto and couldn't help jumping in.

"Scrap your tender and get a nice bunker like me." said Ichihiro.

Akemi came by and overheard the conversation.

"I'll have to use the turntable later and it won't jam, because not as fat as you are, Hiroto." he said.

" _Baka_." said Hiroto, under his breath.

When it came time to use the turntable, Akemi went perfectly onto the middle of the turntable. Then the tengu worked her ways and the wind started to pick again. Akemi turned faster and faster. Soon the wind died down and he stopped spining. Akemi felt dizzy, and sure enough, Hiroto had saw the entire thing.

"I guess your too skinny, eh Akemi." said Hiroto.

Akemi said nothing and stayed on the siding so he could recover. Later that night, the engines talked of what happened.

"The stupid turntable humiliated me!" said Hiroto.

"It made my eyes spin!" put in Akemi.

Soon, the Scarlet Controller arrived. I think I have the solution to your turntable problems, and there standing next to her was a tengu.

"Aya, say your sorry for humiliating these engines." she said.

"But I was working on a story for the paper when that happened!" Aya said.

"Aya!" the Scarlet Controller said, angry.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry for making you look bad." Aya said, finally.

"That's better." the Scarlet Controller said.

The two tender engines accepted her apologies and feel asleep.


	5. Hiroto's Race

After Hiroto's incident with the turntable and Aya. He was more careful to not make himself feel embarrassed. He hadn't minded Aya again, until something in the Bunbunmaru Newspaper said something about the railway.

"She says I'm the slowest engine in the whole railway!" yelled Hiroto angrily.

"That's impossible!"

"So that's how Aya was going to pay you back after the Scarlet Controller chewed her out." said his driver.

Hiroto spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how to pay her back. Until he mentioned it to Ran.

"Well one of the engines I saw when I was away said he had a race with a bus." said Ran.

"So maybe I could race Aya!" Hiroto replied.

"I don't know, tengu are known for their speed and Aya says that she's the fastest." Ran said.

But Hiroto mentioned it to the Scarlet Controller, who then mentioned it to Nitori.

"I don't know. If Hiroto were to go faster, we'd need better coal than what we have." said Nitori.

"What kind of coal we need?" asked the Scarlet Controller.

"Anthracite." said Nitori.

"Why not let Yukari gap away a truck full of that stuff and give it to Hiroto?"

"We could."

Soon Nitori told Hiroto the news.

"The race is on. But I need to give you a different kind of coal if you going to have a chance at beating her." said Nitori.

So Hiroto was loaded with a tender full of anthracite coal, the race was due at 7:00 in morning. The starting line was the Moriya shrine and the two were to race the entire length of the mainline to the Hakurei shrine.

The youkai and engine were side by side. Aya was told not to fly and to just run the entire way. Hiroto's fire was burning nicely. Sanae held her gohei up high.

"Ready."

"I'll beat you." said Aya.

"Get set."

"Not if I beat you first." said Hiroto.

"GO!"

Aya ran off and Hiroto's driver threw the regulator as high as it would allow. Aya had a fast headstart but Hiroto quickly began to pick up speed. Just for purposes of research, he was pulling a coach with Nitori and a special machine to track speed.

"Come along. Come along." said Hiroto as he pumped his pistons like never before.

Hiroto threw all caution out the window as moved as fast as the rails would allow. It wasn't long before he reached his maximum speed. That was when he saw Aya and he screamed.

"RAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Hiroto's speed suddenly shot upward.

"60...68...72...78...81." said Nitori, tracking his speed.

Hiroto felt his cylinders go hot, he suddenly passed Aya, but Aya wouldn't have it and she ran faster.

"91...92...93...94...95..." said Nitori.

The two were quickly approaching the final stretch to the Hakurei shrine station. The two were neck and neck.

"101...102...103...105..." said Nitori.

Hiroto screamed again and blasted forward.

"110...115...120..."

Aya's legs were moving so fast, they looked almost like they stopped moving.

"125...126...127...128" said Nitori, then Hiroto broke a speed record.

"130!" exclaimed Nitori.

Hiroto almost felt like the metal in his cylinders were melting and he felt a pain in his pistons. That was when the two crossed the finish line. Another tengu, Momiji Inubashiri took the picture...it was a tie. Aya stopped running and almost fell. But Hiroto didn't, his driver applied the breaks, but Hiroto kept going forward. His wheels made a horrible screeching sound as sparks flew from his wheels. Hiroto driver tried the handbrake, but that didn't work. The loop line was ahead and Hiroto was still going too fast. His driver and fireman jumped clear as Hiroto went onto the bend and fell beside the track. The coach he was pulling had luckily had only a minor derailment.

A breakdown crew came to clean up the accident.

"Oh dear." said Nitori to Hiroto.

"You've braked so hard, your wheels went flat. Your also going to need to go to the works anyway, so you can have your cylinders checked."

"Thanks Nitori." said a tired Hiroto.

The race was a tie, both went over the finish line at the same time. But Hiroto had beat a world record, even thought it meant fusing together his pistons and cylinders and warping parts of his firebox and boiler from the heat. Nitori and the Scarlet Controller agreed to never have a race like this ever again. It was a hot debate over how Hiroto overcame his maximum speed, Nitori said it was the anthracite coal, the Scarlet Controller said it was Yukari's power over fate, but Hiroto's driver said it was something else.

"I believe Hiroto broke the record. Through his own ego, he didn't want to be beaten in a test of speed. Therefore, I think he broke it out of sheer willpower." she said.

But no one is still sure how he broke it and I don't think anyone _will_ know, do you?


	6. Epilogue

Nitori and the Scarlet Controller overlooked maps, lots of them. They showed geography and lines indicating possible rail lines. The two had thought up a plan to use Mayohiga as a sort of "rail Town", in which the railway subsidized humans and certain youkai to move into the abandoned village to start businesses and use the railway to support the reinvigorated village and within time, the rail line could be upgraded to be part of the mainline. If the plan was put up to the board members and they liked it, they will have to build more engines to handle more passengers and goods.

More engines will have to be needed anyway because of Hiroto's race, and he would be in the works for sometime, luckily Kenta was back doing work.

Nitori wanted to experiment with diesel engines since steam engines had worked out so well. They also used Ran's experience staying on the Island of Sodor to see if they could make improvements on the railway.

"You really think diesel engines could work, whatever they are?" asked the Scarlet Controller.

"Yeah. If the process worked on steam engines, I'm sure it'll work on diesel engines." answered Nitori.

However the two didn't know that diesel engines tend to act high and mighty and put themselves on a pedestal. The North Western Railway had had this experience before, but the Gensokyo Railway didn't.

Nitori brought out an original design of her's. It was a BR Class 08 with a slightly larger cab with the cab roof resembling those on old German steam locomotives.

"This is what the diesel is going to look like." said Nitori, showing the Scarlet Controller with her plans.

"Hmm...but don't we have enough small engines?" said the Scarlet Controller.

"Yes, but this is only for a trial."

"Ah. Okay."

The two continued on their plans.


End file.
